Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Jordi Savall at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

As always, The View from Fez brings you news of the Fes Festival. We start with Jordi Savall, world-renowned Catalan musician and composer who will perform at Bab el Makina at 20h30 on Wednesday 9 June.

Jordi Savall is long been one of the foremost figures in early music, ranging from medieval, to Renaissance to Baroque. He is largely responsible for bringing the viol (viola da gamba) back into play. Savall was recently awarded the National Prize for Culture by the Catalonia National Council for Culture and the Arts. This will be his second appearance at the Fes Festival.

Pliny described Jerusalem as 'by far the most illustrious city of the Orient', and in this latest piece presented by Jordi Savall, Jerusalem - la ville des deux paix, the music retraces 3200 years of the history of this sacred city. Jordi calls it a magical journey, outside of time, of Sufi music and Hebrew lamentations.

Savall will be accompanied in Fez by his choral groups Hesperion XXI and Capella Reial de Catalunya as well as various guests, representing Spain, Morocco, Iraq, Greece, Israel, Galilee and Armenia. This prestigious melange of Jewish, Christian and Muslim musicians echoes the foundations of the city they celebrate. Jerusalem is presented as a welcoming city, and although peaceful at the moment, it lives in hope of reuniting the two 'peaces' of its name.

Music by Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras; story and text by Manuel Forcano.

2 comments:

Hi -My husband and I are world music lovers in Los Angeles who are planning to attend the festival. We have time constraints and thus have a hard choice to make: stay in Fes for the entire festival or only for a few days, which would give us time to see a bit more of the country...I sing in a choir (google Agape International Choir)and would opt to stay in Fes the duration of the festival if it is truly amazing since music is our greatest passion. We would greatly appreciate your opinion of the festival. Thanks so much!

Hello JanIf world music is your passion, then I'd definitely suggest you stay in Fez for the whole festival. It's an amazing event, and this year's programme looks very interesting. Please contact me at helenranger@gmail.com for more information.

THE VIEW FROM FEZ ~ YOUR WINDOW INTO MOROCCO

The View from Fez aims to promote interest and understanding of life in Fez in particular and Morocco in general. The View from Fez is produced in Fez by the registered company: The View from Fez (Pat: 40461390). Our contributors are based in the Fez Medina and in other centres around Morocco. We welcome contributions from writers and photographers across the country.